Finally, A Battery Floodlight Camera That's Perfect For My Dark Yard

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The Blink Outdoor 4 Floodlight Camera is simply a practical, battery-powered solution for darker areas astir your location that deficiency wiring and outlets.
• The AA batteries let nan floodlights to beam astatine 700 nits of brightness, which is not nan astir powerful connected nan marketplace but bully capable to spot your surroundings.
• The Blink app is feature-rich, pinch plentifulness of camera settings to customize for nan champion surveillance, but you'll request a paid subscription to unlock nan champion features.

As a genitor and pet owner, I dislike to admit that I'm acrophobic of nan dark. While I person a fenced-in backyard, I still dread taking my canine retired for his evening potty breaks. My fearfulness worsened 1 nighttime aft spotting respective pairs of gleaming eyes successful nan woods pinch a flashlight arsenic I strolled done my yard. Sure, they were astir apt conscionable funny cervid wondering what we were doing, but successful my head, they were a battalion of wolves aliases monsters for illustration nan large agleam eyes successful nan acheronian caves you'd spot successful cartoons.

Also: Eufy's Floodlight Cam E340 is nan hardest-working information camera I've tested

See, 1 broadside of nan gait lacks outdoor lighting and wiring. I've tried respective solutions to nary avail, including outdoor drawstring lights and respective brands of solar lights, but neither were agleam capable to support nan abstraction evenly lit. That's really I ended up pinch Blink's Outdoor 4 Floodlight Camera. 

I've toyed pinch getting a floodlight camera since I spotted those shiny, inquisitive eyes successful nan woods nan first time, mostly retired of curiosity to spot what benignant of wildlife I could spot. 

Also: Eufy's caller smart show gives Amazon and Google a tally for their money - really it works

The Blink Outdoor 4 is simply a unsocial information camera because it uses 2 AA lithium batteries arsenic a powerfulness root that tin past up to 2 years. This attack intends you tin adhd a information camera almost anyplace without worrying astir charging it for immoderate time.

Getting a floodlight equine that is besides battery-powered is nan cleanable summation to a acheronian area without wiring.

For me, nan champion spot to instal nan Blink Outdoor 4 Floodlight Camera was a station connected nan platform looking retired to nan yard. The camera has a 143-degree diagonal section of view, capable to screen nan full fenced area of nan gait it was pointed toward.  

Maria Diaz/ZDNET

At 700 lumens, nan floodlight is capable to illuminate an area of astir 35 quadrate feet. A azygous inexpensive PAR38 floodlight bulb averages astir 1,200 lumens, and my Eufy Security Floodlight Camera has 2,000 lumens, truthful nan Blink Outdoor 4 Floodlight Camera is not nan brightest instrumentality successful nan shed. Two AA lithium batteries powerfulness nan Blink Outdoor 4, truthful nan little powerfulness tie helps support nan lights connected -- literally.

Also: I conscionable tested nan caller EufyCam, and I'm ne'er going backmost to grainy nighttime vision

Since it's battery-powered, you can't group nan Blink Outdoor 4 Spotlight Camera to supply ambient lighting, which would drain nan batteries successful a fewer days. When you group nan camera to grounds and nan lights to move connected pinch immoderate mobility detection, nan lights tin enactment connected for arsenic agelong arsenic 5 minutes. That's much than capable for those little moments of action.

Maria Diaz/ZDNET

Beyond mounting up nan floodlights, nan Blink app besides lets you customize motion-detection sensitivity, cheque your artillery levels, and group up mobility zones, retrigger times, mobility clip length, night-vision settings, privateness zones, and more. 

The downside, however, is that immoderate different features, including personification detection, are only disposable pinch a Blink Subscription Plan. 

Also: Smart location starter pack: 5 devices that will make your life easier

There are 2 Blink Subscription Plan tiers: a Basic Plan for $3 per period and a Plus Plan for $10 per month. Without a plan, you tin position nan unrecorded watercourse for up to 5 minutes astatine a clip and get motion-activated notifications. If you want to shop clips, adhd a Sync Module 2 pinch a USB flash drive, a instrumentality you plug in.

The Basic Plan supports 1 device, up to 90 minutes of continuous livestreaming, unreality retention for up to 60 days, personification detection, photograph capture, video sharing, and accelerated video clip access. The Plus Plan allows snooze mobility alerts for up to 24 hours, extended warranty coverage, and 10% disconnected Blink devices connected Amazon.com.

ZDNET's buying advice

After utilizing nan Blink Outdoor 4 Floodlight Camera for almost a year, I americium gladsome to person recovered a reliable solution to nan acheronian broadside of my yard. I utilized nan free proceedings period, truthful I sewage to bask immoderate of nan perks of a subscription, but I've been utilizing nan camera without nan paid scheme pinch nan Sync Module since nan proceedings ended.

I hoped to get astatine slightest a twelvemonth of usage retired of nan batteries, but we've had to switch them each 3 to 5 months. This isn't unspeakable for me, particularly since we're connected that broadside of nan gait respective times a nighttime pinch our dog.

Also: This is nan astir responsive wireless information camera I've tested, but there's a catch

Most different floodlights connected nan marketplace person star panels aliases request recharging each fewer months. The Blink Outdoor 4 Floodlight Camera remains a unsocial action that doesn't request to beryllium taken down each 3 months to recharge, particularly if you don't usage it arsenic often arsenic I do aliases spot it correct wherever nan sun hits it.